Lloyd Levine and Fran Pavley, Democratic candidates for the 23rd District State Senate Seat, went head-to-head on the issues at a debate hosted by the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club held at the Pacific Palisades Women’s Club.
Both Levine and Pavley are vying for State Senator Sheila Kuehl’s seat, which Kuehl must vacate this year due to term limits. Levine is currently a State Assembly member representing the 40th Assembly District, and Pavley is the former Assembly member for the 41st District, which includes Santa Monica. She left the Assembly in 2006 due to term limits and has since been working as a Senior Climate Advisor for the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Santa Monica.
At the February 22 debate, Pavley stated that she wants to “go back to Sacramento to implement two bills she worked on” that were signed into law. One was her “Clean Car Regulations,” AB 1493 (also known as the Pavley Bill), which mandates that auto manufacturers must reduce car tailpipe emissions by 30 percent by 2016. Her other bill was the “Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,” AB 32, that places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions emitted in California and mandates that those emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020.
Levine mentioned that he is running for State Senate because term limits are ending his career in the Assembly and because he wants “to continue to make effective change.” He also noted that he wants to be a State Senator “because I love public service and I love public policy.”
Both candidates also discussed the issues they believe are the most significant in Santa Monica. Levine discussed rent control and the “need to protect renters and the need for coastal protection. He also mentioned the need for better mass transit to help deal with “traffic congestion in Santa Monica” and on the “corridors leading from Santa Monica to Los Angeles.” He also expressed his support for a “comprehensive transportation plan in California” that is clean “and simple to use.”
Pavley also mentioned the transportation challenges facing Santa Monica, but also had good things to say about how the city has managed these challenges. “Santa Monica has been a good model for creating mixed-use development, developing transportation corridors, creating a good transit system, is pedestrian friendly…and that’s the direction we [the state] need to go.” Another key concern to Pavley is the Santa Monica Airport and its issues of airplanes idling and the lack of runway safety areas. She also mentioned Santa Monica’s ficus tree issue. [I am] “interested in preserving the urban forest.” Pavley also expressed concern about the effect of polluted stormwater runoff coming into Santa Monica Bay.
As for the candidates’ top issues, both mentioned the state’s budget problems, transportation, and education. Levine also mentioned the environment, while Pavley talked about clean energy sources.
The California Primary will be held on June 3.
